Plain Words – the Documentation and Training People

Training Course Outline – Complaint Handling Training Course

A happy customer may tell three people about their experience with you but an unhappy one could share their problems with up to ten. That’s the kind of word-of-mouth that you have to get right.

Dealing with complaints effectively can build a good relationship with your customers, save money by avoiding their escalation, and earn repeat business. But many people drift into the role without any specific complaint handling training.

Most companies receive and reply to complaints by telephone, email and letter, and increasingly these days, by social media. If it’s your job to respond to them, you can be your organisation’s most valuable ambassador. You need to stay motivated and to be confident that you are dealing with customers as effectively and positively as possible. Training in best practice and seeing what works will build that confidence: you can be sure you are using tried and tested techniques.

What you will learn on this complaint handling training course

By the end of the course, you will know how to:

Listen effectively so you understand what you need to do

Choose the best response to a complaint

Structure your responses effectively

Use best practice for emails and letters

Write in a clear, concise style

Check your responses and give them that final polish before you send them

What our customers say

“Was extremely beneficial to me and my job role. I hope to CLOSE all customer complaints in one shot from now on. Giulia was lovely and patient when listening to all of our questions and customer complaints.”

SB, Superdrug

“I found the course very enjoyable and informative. We were able to share experiences and the interactive nature of the course produced a great deal of interaction. Thank you very much.”

JG, Basingstoke & North Hampshire Foundation Trust

“I have taken so much from this training. I came to the training fairly confident in my writing skills and it has raised some development areas for me which were explained extremely well. I now have some really useful tools to ensure my writing is sent grammatically correct with good tone. Thank you.”

KE, Ovo Energy

“It’s been very useful and informal with lots of opportunities to share ideas and ask questions – drawing on specific and current examples. Thank you very much for your time and trouble.”

SC, Institute for Learning

How we deliver this complaint handling training course

It is available as an open course in London, a private tutor-led course at your premises or an online self-study package.

Choose from:

A one-day, interactive tutor-led workshop. Delegates practise effective complaint handling, learning the techniques through group discussion, exercises and working on sample complaints.

Our open courses in London

We deliver our complaint handling training course at venues in central London, all easily accessible by public transport. All the rooms have natural daylight, independent air conditioning and free Wi-Fi.

If your journey into London means an early start, don't worry; on your arrival you can have a light and tasty breakfast of fresh bread, pastries, cereals and fruit. Throughout the day there's an endless supply of freshly brewed coffee and speciality teas as well as chilled water, fruit and homemade snacks.

Course Contents

1. A few observations about complaints

What is a complaint?

How complaints can help you improve customer relations

Misconceptions about apologies

2. Handling complaints by telephone and in person

Listening techniques – know what can prevent you from hearing the whole story

Three listening modes and their impact

Meeting customers – body language can help or hinder

Putting the customer at ease – some things you should never say or do!

Handling unhappy customers – practical things you can say and do

Putting things back on a positive track

Pre-Course Questionnaire

When you book we send you a questionnaire which we ask you to return to us before you attend the course. This enables our Trainers to assess your needs in advance.

3. Identifying the best response to complaints

Techniques to set a clear objective

Understanding who you’re writing to and what they need from you

Responding to complaints when you’re at fault, when you wish to make a concession and when you need to stand firm

Being tactful and diplomatic, and some useful phrases

How to ask for things without starting a long sequence of replies to replies

How to give bad news – being up-front and empathising

4. Choosing the right words

Eight principles to help you get to the point and avoid waffle

Finding the right level of formality in your writing style

British Vs American English

5. Responding by email

Why have email etiquette?

Email etiquette for subject lines, content, forward and reply

Using signature files, attachments and different fonts

Choosing the right structure for your content and objective

Why correct email style counts

Sending the right message – what your email could be saying about you

How to minimise flaming by recognising ambiguous content and knowing when to use the phone instead

6. Responding by letter

Why it’s important to get the basics right – address, contact details, salutation

How to choose the correct structure, tone and style

Standard forms of closures and enclosures

Making it look good – layouts to support content and draw the reader in

How form letters can save you time

7. Dealing with social media complaints

Even if the customer’s not always right, this highly visible medium means all replies must preserve your and their dignity

The four types of feedback – which one should you just delete?

Planning your apology is essential – customers may value an apology more than compensation

The eight steps to handling social media complaints effectively

8. Polishing your prose

Evaluating the effectiveness of your response – is it simple, readable and complete?

A top-down approach to improving your response

How to use effective transitions to hold the flow of thought

Tips to maximise impact

Avoiding poppycock and commonly-confused words

Grammar and punctuation – common mistakes and things that make some people go mad

Using the tools to check your spelling

How to proof your own writing – tricks to help you see what’s really there